Recently, my patience has been tested in ways it has never been before. So much so that it caused me to research the quote “patience is a virtue” and its origins. For some reason, I thought it was in the Bible, but a quick search revealed that it is not in the scriptures. Many commonly believe the line came from a poem called “Piers Plowman,” written around 1360 by an English poet William Langland. The poem was actually written about a man in search of faith. That statement connected with me and made me dig deeper. I found out that faith is a virtue, but patience is not. There are seven virtues split in two categories. The first three are theological or heavenly virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. Then the four cardinal or moral virtues are Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Courage. So, if patience isn’t a virtue, then what is it? Patience is defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. The Bible speaks of patience as a fruit of the Spirit that can be cultivated.
Patience reveals a lot about a person’s faith in God’s timing. I used to think of patience as only being weak, but now I realize how much strength it takes to exercise patience in many situations. Patience can also be translated to mean endurance. Looking at patience from the perspective of strength instead of weakness is helping me to see my relationship in a different light. Marriage is not a dash but a marathon that requires endurance and plenty of patience. Patience is like a muscle that has to be developed over time. The bigger your purpose, the more patience you will likely need to develop and accomplish your goals. Tests and trials are ways of perfecting our patience. Another way to develop patience is to connect to the Spirit and align yourself with the perfect will and timing of God. On the other hand, as a leader you have to learn when to be impatient. There will be times when being patient isnt the right move and actually can be detrimental to progress As the leader you have to constantly assess the situation and determine should you patiently wait for results or do you step in and let the team know there will be consequences for poor performance.
I am currently in this stage of learning when to exercise patience versus when to be impatient. To help build patience and endurance, I have been practicing mindfulness by becoming present in the moment without judging, accepting my current circumstances, working to build tolerance for being uncomfortable, and slowing down when I start to feel frustrated or rushed. I have also been practicing listening without worrying about what I’m going to say next. To build better leadership qualities in myself, i am being conscious of when impatience is needed to move something forward to get results, and am being aware of when excessive patience can do more harm than good..Ultimately, I have found that patience is a super power and can be cultivated, but just like anything, too much of a good thing can have the opposite effect. The goal is to find harmony and to exercise enough patience when needed, while having the ability to realize when too much patience can lead to complacency and actually become harmful.